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8 Ways to Craft a Business with Spoonflower

June 20, 2016

We like to think of The Academy of Handmade as a support system for makers. As longtime fans and sponsors of The Academy of Handmade, we’ve been proud to see so many artists and crafters thrive, growing their small businesses through this amazing recourse. Sharon Fain, founder and director of the Academy of Handmade stops by the blog to share how using Spoonflower custom-printed materials can help give your business an edge against competitors, so you can thrive too!

Sharon: The rise of DIY small business tools in the last year has been incredible… and so needed for makers who are looking to create one-of-a-kind products and look professional while not having a giant corporate budget. While you may think of Spoonflower as the place to get unique, artist designed fabric, wallpaper and wrapping paper for personal projects, it is also the place where handmade businesses can go for custom, professional items without breaking the bank.

As someone who works with makers to help them improve their businesses, I love the possibilities Spoonflower presents! Many of Academy of Handmade’s members are using Spoonflower on a daily basis in their businesses. Here are a few examples I found from both our members and other makers.

Stand Out at a Craft Show

You might have looked online at some of the custom signage options for your craft show booth. Spoonflower allows you to make something beyond the “typical vinyl banner” but doesn’t break the bank the way many custom booth branding can.

Academy of Handmade member Rosalie Gale of Ugly Baby, uses printed Spoonflower fabric to drape over her tables. Which is so smart because one of my biggest things with booths at craft shows is that a booth’s branding is usually only in one place–on a sign behind the booth–when it needs to be ALL over.

Another great booth branding idea is to use custom-designed wallpaper to apply to any hard surfaces that might be part of your display, like a sandwich board or sign. You might also want to consider making a wrapping paper and cutting it up to to make a garland that will be perfectly complement your products.

Custom Projects for Customers

All in one diaper changing pad by Heart & Art Cottage

Spoonflower is great for one-off and custom projects your customer would like to commission. While you might offer products that don’t typically include Spoonflower products, if you do commission work, Spoonflower is a great way to meet the demands of custom orders.

Take, for instance, Academy of Handmade member Rita Cheng of Heart and Art Cottage. She has a line of baby changing pads and for an extra charge customers can request custom fabrics that she will create to their liking in Spoonflower. She will also soon be taking designs she’s previously done on paper only and make fabric versions as well, further extending her line.

Bring Your Product Vision to Life

There are products you want to create that require the *JUST RIGHT* fabric. Nothing else will do. To make that exact idea become reality, you can design your own through Spoonflower.

Thinking outside of the literal box, you can use Spoonflower fabric and wrapping paper branded with your business identity to create a professional and unique “unboxing” experience. Of course, you can always wrap boxes, but taking the paper and making branded treat bags, pillow boxes, enclosure envelopes, or even bags.

We all get business cards then they wind up collecting our purse or in a pile on our desk. Then we usually throw them out in a fit of sprucing up (tell me I’m not the only one, right?). Which is why the Oleander and Palm sachet business cards are genius. And is really a “value add” since customers are FAR more likely to keep this than a typical business card.

Read the tutorial from Caitlin Topham of The Salty Oat to learn how to make your own fabric labels

Make Collaborations with Other Creatives Possible

The inspiration and expression of collaborative ideas becomes easier with Spoonflower. Academy of Handmade Member Rebecca of Relaine works with a photographer friend to create patterns from her photography then makes a print from it and uploads it to Spoonflower. The results are stunning!

Want to try a look but not get stuck with a bunch of fabric if things don’t sell? Ordering swatches or smaller runs of fabric through Spoonflower can help you test out new product ideas without emptying out your wallet. This is exactly what lingerie maker and Academy of Handmade Member Annika of Married and Bright is doing. She’s recently decided to experiment with new fabrics she couldn’t find anywhere else and absolutely loved.

Married & Bright handmade under garments using Spoonflower custom fabric

Comments

So much fun to read & learn what other artist use Spoon Flower’s work for! SP has made it possible for me to design & make rainbow animal heads I draw with marker so it looks like each pillow was drawn on the fabric 😊 I also see in colorful faux fur on to the heads to give it that wacky fun look! You can view my work on my Instagram username: Scoper.art

I truly love Spoonflower for all the flexibly, choice of materials and fabrics so I can really make ANYTHING for my sci-fi and horror fan customers! From book bags to quilts and dresses to undies, the limits are pretty endless. Next on my list is to make some custom tags for my items. I also keep forgetting about the paper products…note to self…make some custom packaging…

While I do many custom orders, the one that gets the most giggles is plush weaponry…baby viking battleaxes and plush sci-fi guns for baby photoshoots are new Dads faves.

I also met an awesome geeky and gory collaborators who have been super fun to work with over the last year! I Love that we can all share in the support of handmade!

I use copious amounts of Spoonflower fabrics for custom upholstery work for my little home business Tango & James. My clients now come to me for the myriad of fun print options I can offer thanks to Spoonflower!